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Quasquetuk

Quasketuk is a small mountainous kingdom ruled by a Rajah. The land is
divided in three main parts: in the south, the low valley which
surrounds the town of Quasketuk; in the middle, the forest hills where
Ozag berserker tribes live; in the north, the high mountains, where
stands the famous Zelligan path. The climate is warm and dry during
summer, very cold during winter due to the surrounding mountains. From
the far south of the kingdom, it’s possible to see the white peaks of
eternal snow.

Long time ago, it was a scarcely populated land, where only nomadic
tribesmen live. Face to the threats of invasion from the mountaineer’s
tribes, a southern Empire conquered the land and the citadel of
Quasketuk was build. Most of the tribes swear oath to the new landlords
and adopted parts of their customs. Then the citadel turns to a city
and, with the collapse of the Empire, a general seized its independence
and created its own kingdom, under the name of Roghar the first. Now,
after many failed plots to overthrown its dynasty, its descendant
Roghar IX the brave is still on power.

The basis of Quasquetuk economy is the sheep, both for wool, meat
and milk. Its wool-made colored clothes are famous. From their nomad’s
roots, inhabitants keep the habit to use horses for herd care.
Agriculture does also exist, but is limited to the capital area. The
land is dangerous, both for sheep and folk, so people are often armed
outside of the towns. A typical shepherd is also a mounted lancer; this
is the reason why lancers are the main troops of the kingdom. The
capital is a nice city surrounded by walls, with a magnificent king
palace with no less than one hundred terraces and pools; two shrines
with superb gardens and a well-known museum.

Folk of Quasquetuk are very religious. They adopt easily new gods in
their pantheon and have a lot of feasts and sacrifices to their own
deities. Sacrifices are commonly animals including dozen of sheep
during some major festivals. Human sacrifice, though not forbidden in
major reasons for the safety of kingdom, is very rare. The two main
gods, who have big shrines in the capitol, are Roghar and Zeligan.

Roghar, a hero from the past, is the God of War and Courage; he’s
pictured as a furious four-armed armored warrior with a black beard,
wearing a boar fur as a cape and helmet. He’s often accompanied by his
squire Egir. The rajah himself is the high priest of Roghar. This cult
is official and followed by soldiers and rajah’s courtesans, but is not
very popular. His priests are very rich due to tax incomes.

Zeligan is a more philosopher deity, as he’s the God of the Unknown and
asks his initiates to learn in order to explore these unknown limits.
When pictured, he looks as a meditative old white-bearded man. Zeligan
cult is known as the Great church. It has a number of monastic orders
devoted to philosophy and meditation, like the Servants of Carmichael
(dedicated to astronomy and mathematics); the Silents (which oath full
silence and mediation); the Mystics (which study martial arts); the
Holy Brotherhood (the most popular, as they live as poor people and
helps hem); the Hooded (who never show their face, as a renouncement to
their former life). All of them worship saints and angels as messengers
of Zeligan.

Some other cults and religion have shrines here, as the religious
freedom is full as long as the two man gods are honored. The main one
is the Church of St-Melrose, a western cult rather proselyte and
intolerant, hostile to sacrifices and local religious customs; the
Rajah dislikes them, but still protects them for diplomatic reasons,
and they try to convert him or his wives. The second one is just known
as the Secret Church. Very few more is known about it, but the Rajah
forbid that cult and imprisons its followers.

In the forests and hills live the nomadic tribes of the Ozag clans.
Hunters and shepherds, they live in big common wood-made houses, in
small villages. Each few years, they burn the full village and build
another one elsewhere. They speak the same language than the plain
folks and share some customs, but worship their won god, the Fox. The
initiates of the Fox cult become berserkers during their night
ceremonies. Some suspects the Secret Church could be a hidden Fox cult
and have its own berserkers.

The plain land is free of big monsters, but giant rats are a major
nuisance. Raids from mountains humanoids do happen, but generally
involve small young looters in search for sheep and horses. In the
forests, crab spiders and giant centipedes are not uncommon, as well as
boars, wolves and tigers. Around the Zelligan path, Kobolds, Goblins,
Orcs and Troglodytes live in their mountains caves and citadels, where
warm sources enables them to feed from giant mushroom forests. As Ozag
clans nomads use the driest mountain caves as natural mummification
places, undead like zombies are not uncommon too.